Although usable fusion energy production remains a challenge for scientists, a US-China research group believes that we might be one step closer. The team believes that the only way to increase the efficiency and power of magnetic fusion energy is to push the plasma hotter than 100million degC, which would bring it closer to the wall than ever before. The Holy Grail in energy production is fusion power. Fusion power is a virtually unlimited supply of fuel at practically zero cost to an energy production scale. Two problems would be solved by it: It would reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as the global warming that they are causing. 2. Find new fuel sources. General Atomics states that fusion is what powers the sun, stars and moon. This is when two hydrogen atoms combine or fuse to create an atom of Helium. Some of the hydrogen’s mass is transformed into energy during this process. Fusion is an endless source of energy. DIII-D Tokamak operated by General Atomics San Diego. Image: fusioned.gat.com. This study was conducted by Dr. Andrea Garofalo of General Atomics, San Diego, USA and Dr. Xianzu Gong of ASIPP, Academy of Sciences Institute of Plasma Physics, HeFei Province, China. The scientists used both the DIII-D National Fusion Facility in China and China’s EAST Facility to study the “high-bootstrap” current scenario. This improves the self-generated (or ‘bootstrap”) electoral current. They then sought to determine the ideal configuration of tokamak for fusion energy production. Tokamak, a steel-lined toroidal (doughnut-shaped), fusion device that can produce controlled fusion reactions within hot plasma. Magnet fusion energy: Harnessing the Sun’s power on Earth. Magnetic fields are used to contain plasma heated to extreme high temperatures, hotter than at the Sun. The ions can fuse in such an environment and then release energy. This allows for the Sun to harness its power on Earth. Tokamak is considered the most advanced configuration known to science. This research team helps build the 500-megawatt ITER Fusion Research Facility that a group of 35 nations, including China and the US, has been building in France. The latest China-US joint experiment showed that plasma wall distance can be reduced in tokamaks using high plasma pressure and a large bootstrap current fraction. Dr. Gong said that these experiments could provide better physics, operation foundation, and a more stable plasma. Image by General Atomics. Dr. Garofalo described that plasma was moved closer to the vessel wall to resolve a wobbling effect (kink mode) that decreases performance. The kink effect is eliminated by operating closer to the wall. This allows for higher pressure inside the tokamak which results in ‘pressure driven’ plasma flows, maintaining the confinement quality even at lower external velocity. Dr. Garofalo stated that this is a unique regime. Moving plasma so close to the wall is very dangerous. “You cannot do that any more, it’s going to damage your machine,” the chief operator stated. It was difficult to verify our theory. The kink mode disappeared by moving plasma closer to the wall. This allowed for higher plasma pressure which, in turn, reduced plasma dependency on externally injected flow. It is an important breakthrough because it can be very difficult and expensive to generate a plasma flow in an ITER tokamak reactor. Following up work at China’s EASTtokamak where General Atomics scientists collaborated, the scientists conducted the latest bootstrap exploration in DIII–D. International cooperation is crucial for success. While scientists have discussed fusion power since before the 1950s and many teams around the world have made significant progress, the China-US team has set new standards in international cooperation. Global cooperation is key to achieving magnetic fusion energy that can be used and successfully utilized, Dr. Gong says. Dr. Gong cited EAST/DIII -D as a “new model for science collaborations” that both benefits the study field and participants. Dr. Gong stated that “we have made an excellent start in international collaboration in Fusion Research between China and America, and are proud to be pioneers in this field.” 57th Annual meeting of the APS Division for Plasma Physics. November 16-20, 2015. Savannah, Georgia. Abstract: KI2. 00004 “Progress towards Steady States Tokamak Operation : Exploiting high bootstrap current fraction regime,” Session KI2: Optimization of MFE Regimes. 3: 00 5: 00 pm, Tuesday November 2015. Chatham Ballroom C. Scientists from Japan and America have made an important discovery about a plasma confinement state. Video: Is fusion energy becoming reality?
